KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
The AWD-IT Phoenix ships well-protected in the NZXT S340 Elite case box.
Also included in the bundle are the motherboard, PSU and CPU cooler boxes, as these have some extra accessories (like SATA or PSU cables) that you might want later on.
The first thing to note is that the NZXT S340 Elite has a tempered glass panel, as is the current market trend.
However, AWD-IT have taken things a step further by custom-etching the Ryzen logo onto the glass panel. I think this looks pretty cool and is definitely something that helps AWD-IT systems stand-out from the crowd.
Before diving into the innards of the system, it is worth looking at the front-panel I/O. Here we find 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, audio jacks and an HDMI pass-through port (great for VR users), so definitely a full set of connectivity options.
Prising off the glass side panel, we get our first look at the system itself.
Other than the glossy red accents that come from the case, the first thing to note is that the system is nice and tidy, with no exposed cabling or anything like that. The interior also benefits from the use of all-black cables – none of that ugly ketchup-and-mustard cabling here.
In terms of cooling, AWD-IT have put a fan in every possible location: two 140mm intakes at the front, a single 120mm exhaust in the roof, and there is even a Corsair 120mm spinner at the back.
We will assess system thermals later in the review, but on the face of it, we can expect temperatures to be just fine due to the number of fans and the sheer amount of air that we can expect them to move through the chassis.
Cooling the Ryzen 1700X chip is a new cooler from Arctic: the Freezer 33. I actually have this cooler on-hand for a stand-alone review, so stay tuned for that.
System memory is provided by a 2x8GB kit of Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz DDR4.
Moving down, the graphics card is a GTX 1080 – in this case, an Inno3D Twin X2 model has been used. As the name suggests, it uses a double-fan cooling solution, and should offer great frame rates across the board.
Also in this area is the M.2 SSD, although you cannot actually see it as it is obscured by the graphics card (Aorus placed the M.2 connector just below the first PCIe slot). AWD-IT have fitted a 256GB Intel 600p NVME drive here, though, and we will assess its speeds later in this review.
Before moving behind the motherboard tray, we will look at the motherboard's I/O. The Aorus AX370 Gaming 5 has the following ports and connectors: 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x USB Type-C port, with USB 3.1 Gen 2 support, 3 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports (red), 6 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, 2 x RJ-45 ports, 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector and 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In).
The GTX 1080 has the standard array of 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI and 1x DVI ports.
Concluding our look at the system, the area behind the motherboard tray has been kept very tidy, with everything neatly tied out of the way.
In the bottom left-hand corner AWD-IT has also placed a 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD, while the PSU is EVGA's 650 GQ – an 80+ Gold, semi-modular unit.
Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here
